List of Names Narrowed To Replace Lee and Jeff Davis High Schools
Montgomery Public Schools is moving forward with changing the names of two high schools, which are currently named for men tied to the Confederacy, as the school board has released several potential new names.
In 2020 concern was raised over MPS school names that honored figures of the Confederacy. That July, the board of education voted to rename Robert E. Lee, Sidney Lanier and Jefferson Davis high schools.
It has since been announced that Lanier will no longer serve the school system, but Lee and Jeff Davis are now one step closer to new names.
“What we asked for was a real community effort to help us get this name right,” Clare Weil Montgomery County Board of Education President said. “Its important.”
A renaming committee has cut down from almost 9,000 names that were submitted by the community to just a select few.
The top choice for Lee High School is Dr. John Winston, followed by a four way tie including Henry Spears, Inez Baskin, Northside, and Percy Julian.
The top choice for Jefferson Davis High School is Carter Hill followed by a three way tie between Jo Ann Robinson, Southside, Victor Tulane.
“Everybody does have their own opinions, and again, I’m going to emphasize that what’s important is the school, the kids in the school, their pride in walking through the door and having a school they can call their own,” Weil said.
The process of narrowing down this list took over a year. The committee was made up of members from across the community nominated by the board and city leaders.
Weil believes they now have a foundation they can build upon to move forward and find the names that best suit the school system, students, and the community.
“Now we have some guidance. Now we have something we can go take a look at, sink our teeth into, learn who these people are, and try to make the very best decision we can.”
The board of education hopes to discuss the names in a work session next month and vote on the names in April.
